Venezuela plans gasoline exports to Iran

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Venezuela said on Sunday it had agreed to export 20,000 barrels per day of gasoline to Iran, which imports a large part of its needs, Iranian state media reported.

"Based on a strategic decision, it has been decided to export 20,000 barrels a day of gasoline from Venezuela to Iran," Iran's news agency IRNA quoted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as saying at the end of a visit to Iran.

Iran is a leading oil exporter but its refineries lack the capacity to meet domestic fuel demand, so it imports up to 40 percent of its gasoline.

Tehran, in a face-off with the West over its nuclear program, may face sanctions on its gasoline imports if a diplomatic solution is not found.

Chavez said the gasoline exports would help pay for Venezuela's imports of machinery and technology from Iran, IRNA said.

Iran's state television quoted Chavez as saying the gasoline exports would start in October.

U.S. President Barack Obama has given Iran until later in September to take up an international offer of talks on trade if it shelves uranium enrichment, or face harsher punitive measures.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei earlier met Chavez and called for the two countries to boost cooperation and be steadfast in their anti-U.S. stand.

"America's repeated defeats and its declining grandeur and power are proof of an undeniable change in the world," state media quoted Khamenei as saying.

The West suspects Iran of trying to build nuclear bombs. Iran says its program is for peaceful power generation and has repeatedly rejected demands to halt sensitive atomic activity.